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White House Calls on Colleges to Adopt Clear College Cost and Financial Aid Disclosures

Mark Kantrowitz

June 05, 2012

The White House is calling on all college and university presidents to
provide incoming students with clear and easy-to-understand college
cost and financial aid disclosures.

On June 5, 2012, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Richard Cordray and Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Muñoz
hosted a roundtable with presidents of ten leading colleges and
universities who have agreed to provide incoming students with
transparent and accessible information about college costs and
financial aid starting with the 2013-14 school year.

Last fall the Obama Administration posted a draft version of its
Financial
Aid Shopping Sheet for public comment on the CFPB’s Know
Before You Owe web site. This model financial aid award letter was
developed by the US Department of Education in partnership with the
CFPB, as required by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008. The
US Department of Education will release a revised version of the
Financial Aid Shopping Sheet this fall after incorporating more than a
thousand public comments. (Public comments will continue to be
accepted through June 20, 2012.)

The Financial Aid Shopping Sheet provides families with clear and
concise information to help them make informed decisions concerning
the tradeoffs between college affordability and other criteria for
choosing a college. “While a quality higher education remains a sound
investment, students and families need to clearly understand the costs
and benefits of each college they’re considering so they can easily
compare choices and identify the best value prior to enrolling,”
according to a statement released by the White House.

The Financial Aid Shopping Sheet will include the following information:

The student’s total cost of attendance for one year of college.

Information about the financial aid available to the student to
cover college costs, with a “clear differentiation between grants and
scholarships, which do not have to be repaid, and loans, which do.”

The student’s net cost after subtracting grants and
scholarships from the cost of attendance.

An estimate the student’s likely debt after graduation and the
monthly loan payments associated with that debt.

The colleges and universities that have committed to providing improved
college cost and financial aid disclosures include:

Arizona State University

Miami Dade College

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

State University System of New York (64 colleges, universities, and community colleges)

Syracuse University

University of Massachusetts System (5 universities)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University System of Maryland (12 universities)

University of Texas System (9 universities)

Vassar College

Momentum is building for the establishment of a mandatory college cost
and financial aid disclosure.
On April 27, 2012, President Obama signed an
executive order
requiring colleges that accept Tuition Assistance and GI Bill money to
provide military and veteran students with the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet.
Senator Franken (D-MN) introduced bipartisan legislation on May 24, 2012 to
establish a standardized financial aid award letter similar to the
Obama Administration’s proposal and to make the standard mandatory.